John Tavares has made it clear—he’d love to retire as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Now, we also know that the veteran forward would prefer to sign a contract extension with the Toronto Maple Leafs before the March 7 trade deadline.

All season long, one of the more interesting storylines to follow in Toronto has been the contract status of John Tavares and what a new deal might look like for the former Leafs captain.

John Tavares would prefer to put his signature on a contract extension in Toronto before the March 7 trade deadline and take care of business early.

Though he’s no longer drawing top-line matchups like in his heyday with the New York Islanders when he was a perennial MVP candidate, Tavares has an offensive zone faceoff percentage of just 45 percent this season. That’s the lowest number of his career and means he’s having to dig his way out of the D-zone more often than before.

On Saturday, The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta wrote that he's heard "chatter" that Tavares and the Maple Leafs have an extension for the Mississauga native to stay put in Toronto. Pagnotta believes the deal to be for three years at an average annual value of around $7 million.

Toronto Maple Leafs forward John Tavares made it clear that he prefers to get an extension signed before the trade deadline on March 7th. With the Leafs set to take on the Boston Bruins on Tuesday, Tavares spoke with Sportsnet’s Luke Fox regarding the status of his expiring contract and where his mind is at.

With just 10 days until the trade deadline, the Toronto Maple Leafs are a key focus in ongoing NHL discussions. While their deadline approach is a major storyline, they also have two significant pending unrestricted free agents to consider—John Tavares and Mitch Marner.